happy fall y'all!

Look at this ginormous (giant + enormous) leaf I found today while the dogs and I went hiking. And there were even bigger ones still on the tree! Don't forget to turn your clocks back.

more gpp crusade no. 1

gpp street team

I decided to "join" Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Team - anyone can do it, it's not a competition or anything. It's a fun way for people to promote her wonderful rubber stamps by sharing photos of items we've made with them. Michelle explains it much better so click here or on the button in the right column.

gpp crusade no. 1

Wow, the colors on this scan are pretty horrible, but I think you get the idea!

"may I always be worth of my friends" - author unknown

I got two RAKs in the mail yesterday...one is a rughooked pillow from my friend, Shari - isn't it lovely? It's always a treat to receive handmade art. And I know how much effort goes into rughooking (I'm still working on the one I started in June at ArtFiberFest) so I really treasure this special pillow!

The other gift I received is a kumihimo kit from my friend, Paula - she was so thoughtful to send this to me because I had to cancel on an upcoming retreat with my local art group where she plans to demonstrate how to make these fiber braids. Now I can try out this technique at home and attend the retreat in spirit!

behold the bedlam that is the multiples swap

Here I am working on getting my "Hot Flashes from the Kitchen" pages finished (hosted by The Creative Underground). This was a much more involved swap than a typical fatbook. Not only do I have to cut out the top of the pages by hand (in case you can't tell, they are apron-shaped), but I have to laminate them and then hand-cut again. Though the process is a bit tedious, I have to say I cannot wait to get this book back...it will be so fun to see what everyone else did and to try out some new, easy and quick (hence, hot "flash") recipes!! I will post a close-up of my page once everyone gets their books back.

just simply charming

Check out the new blog for the charm swap that I participated in!

family portrait

This is what I made in Carla Sonheim's class. It was a 4-hour evening workshop that went by way too fast. Carla is a kind, talented artist who shared step-by-step techniques for creating her fun, whimsical paintings. As I've said before, I'm the type of person who needs lots of time to deliberate when I'm making art, so the short class format was out of my comfort zone. But I think it was really good for me to be pushed out of that zone - I especially liked the quick drawing exercises we did at the beginning of class. Working fast forced me to try and ignore the voice of my inner critic (which usually speaks very loudly). Even though I'm not 100% happy with this painting, it was the first time I actually came away from a class with a finished piece! And I learned so much from Carla that will help further my development as an artist.

an aside...

Please do not ask me for detailed instructions regarding any of the Art & Soul projects that I'm posting. I think it is unfair to divulge that information - both to the teachers who make part of their living sharing their techniques and to the other students who paid for these classes. Thanks for understanding! :)

weird & wonderful windows - mixed media light boxes

These are the "before" and "after" of my other Michael DeMeng class. Isn't it creative how he came up with the idea? Love the concept of the different layers of glass, transparencies, and paint. I decided mine had too much space between the two front layers so I added ledger paper to the inside edges (which you probably can't see in the photo) and bits of ephemera which I painted to look like rusty metal - a plastic bird (yes, it's the same doodad I used in my polaroid assemblage), small wood block, and some chain links. Sorry the photos are not very clear - it's tough when you can't use a flash due to the glass.

I know people are going to ask so...Michael designed the wood boxes and had them custom-made (i.e. I don't know of anyplace you can order them, though maybe someday he will offer the kit for purchase).

going backward

I'm going in reverse chronological order as I describe my A&S classes, since I seem to be finishing my projects in that order!

The last two workshops I took were taught by Michael DeMeng - a talented artist and really fun teacher. The one I'll talk about here is the 3D Polaroid Assemblage class. Shown above are the raw materials I started with (minus paint, caulk, and doodads) and my finished piece. In the post below, I am sharing a few of the incredible assemblages that my fellow students made. My apologies that I'm unable to give credit to each individual artist. The only attributions I'm sure of are the first two which were created by Deb Trotter and Kathy Wasilewski, two amazing artists who I've become acquainted with through the internet and had the pleasure of meeting for the first time in person at A&S.

other students' polaroid assemblages

art & soul - part one

Holy moley, has it really been ten days since I last posted? Well, it's been a very busy period, and I haven't finished taking photos of all my Art & Soul class projects so those will be coming in the near future. All in all, I had a wonderful time - as I'm sure I've said before, my favorite part at art retreats is meeting other artists. Spending time with talented and generous teachers and students are what make these events memorable for me. This time, I was grateful that I had the chance to meet artists who I had only "known" via my blog and the internet. What a treat to be able to interact in person...cyperspace is a great way to keep in touch but it's just not the same as the real thing!

More thoughts and photos to follow in the days to come...

october...

is breast cancer awareness month. Educate yourself here and here. This is a cancer that is treatable when detected early - my mother was very lucky to have done so several years ago.

I will be busy attending classes at Art and Soul this week but look forward to sharing stories and photos about it next week. Until then, happy artmaking to everyone!